What was the bloodiest battle fought on American soil? What was the bloodiest battle fought on American soil? 2010.03.22 The Battle of Gettysburg in 1863 was the bloodiest battle fought on American soil. In three days 5,662 soldiers were confirmed killed, 10,584 were missing, and 27,203 were wounded. As mentioned, the Civil War was the bloodiest for Americans. More Americans died in that war than in all of its other wars combined. How bad was it? About 618,000 soldiers died on both sides of the conflict, plus a large number of civilians who were routinely terrorized and killed by both the North and South. Some historians put the total deaths as high as one million, about 8% of the entire American/Confederate population at the time. Direct and indirect costs of the war totaled over $15 billion dollars at the time—the equivalent of more than $164 billion in today’s dollars—and left the South financially damaged for generations thereafter.

Read More Also, any literature on baseball written in the 1800's does not credit Abner Doubleday with the invention either. But if my... 2016-12-28T23:28:08+00:00 I'm not saying that whoever wrote this did not research this at all but I am saying this explanation of the origins of baseball... 2016-12-28T23:19:30+00:00 IT TOOK ME OVER WINTER BREAK 12 DAYS 3 HOURS 5 MINUTES AND 36 SECONDS. 2016-12-28T02:49:36+00:00 The math here is false. The fundation of how this was worked out is how long it takes to count to 100 in seconds; which is fine...

2016-11-08T22:41:08+00:00 Gettysburg, America’s Bloodiest Battle | Government Book Talk Gettysburg, America’s Bloodiest Battle Maybe you’ve been to the Gettysburg National Military Park in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to tour the battlefield and visitor’s center. Maybe you’ve even gone to one of the annual battle anniversaries, where men and women with Civil War-era clothes and weaponry reenact the battle details with great verve. Lasting three days in 1863, from July 1-3, Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle ever fought on American soil, with up to 10,000 Union and Confederate troops dead and another 30,000 wounded. But surprisingly, this tremendous battle was a purely unplanned accident that grew out of a desperate need for soldiers’ shoes! Image: Battle of Gettysburg Reenactors at “the Wall”.

Image source: Breitbart.com Visiting the Gettysburg National Military Park Having witnessed the activities of scores of reenactors who visited the park during the years I lived near the town, I know that people invest themselves very deeply in the Civil War in general, and in the Gettysburg battle in particular. You don’t have to be an extreme fan to appreciate the silence of the rolling battlefield landscape. Imagining the July heat, the stench of sweat, horse, wool clothing and blood, the cries of pain and death, is easy to do when you’re standing there on that “consecrated ground” as Lincoln said in his famous Gettysburg Address after the battle. Park officials and enthusiasts always commemorate the battle days in Gettysburg , as is happening this week, and it’s a great event for those who can attend in person. When you want to actually (or mentally) place yourself in specific skirmishes in the battle on specific points on the field, you will need a guide. You can hire a guide to ride with your group and interpret the tour for you. That kind of activity is excellent, but is pricey and requires advance planning.

But if you haven’t visited the battlefield, this sesquicentennial anniversary year is a good time to make a virtual trip, if not a real one. (There are over 12,000 reenactors, with 300 foreign reenactors from 16 different countries, and tens of thousands of visitors anticipated for this year’s 150th anniversary reenactment!) Starting with these guide and history books below is a great beginning to what could be a life-long interest. The Best of Guides To fully understand the Gettysburg Campaign and its significance as the pivotal point in the American Civil War, you need to learn from experts. Fortunately, GPO has publications from the two best sources: the US Army Center of Military History and the National Park Service. The Gettysburg Campaign: June–July 1863 and Gettysburg National Military Park Handbook Third in “The U.S. Army Campaigns of the Civil War” series of campaign brochures from the U.S.

Army Center of Military History that commemorate our national sacrifices during the American Civil War, The Gettysburg Campaign: June–July 1863 describes the turning point in the “Battle Between the States.” Authors Carol Reardon and Tom Vossler examine the military operations and strategies along with the somewhat accidental circumstances that culminated in the pivotal and devastating three-day Battle of Gettysburg. With many maps and illustrations, this helps provide some back story and military strategy, as it goes into the various skirmishes leading up to the battle starting back in June and up to the battle itself. As General Robert E. Lee of the Confederate Army said, “It had not been intended to fight a general battle at such a distance from our base, unless attacked by the enemy, but finding ourselves unexpectedly confronted by the Federal Army, it became a matter of difficulty to withdraw through the mountains with our large trains. . . . A battle thus became in a measure unavoidable (Campaign, p.

31).” The National Park Service’s publication, Gettysburg National Military Park Handbook, delves into the history of the battleground itself, that “consecrated ground” and provides a detailed guide of all the amenities of the park along with the on-field maneuvers and results, as well as insight into the personalities and anecdotes that such an epic event always generates. It also covers post-battle events, such as the establishment of a cemetery at Gettysburg and the genesis of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, as well as reproductions of 12 battle paintings by F. D. Briscoe. It’s like having a National Park ranger pointing out key aspects and giving you insights about this important national landmark. Hooker out, Black Hats in Through both of these excellent publications, you can come to know a bit about the personnel of the Gettysburg Campaign, such as the story of the last-minute, last-ditch replacement of General Hooker as Commander of the Federal Army of the Potomac by General George G. Meade. Commander of the U.S. Army General Halleck replaced Hooker at his own demand, and Hooker left his command in a great hurry.

Meade arrived at Gettysburg knowing little of the status of his troops and even less about Lee’s troops. You can also read all the details of General Daniel Sickles’ unauthorized movements from Cemetery Hill. Don’t forget to study the awe-inspiring story of the Iron Brigade, also known as the Black Hat Brigade. Some Confederates called them “them Black Hat Fellers” because of the black Hardee hats they wore that were different from the standard-issue Union blue kepi hats. Made up of the 2nd, 6th, and 7th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiments, the 19th Indiana, and the 24th Michigan, the Iron Brigade was famous for its fierceness on the field. The Iron Brigade made a tremendous impact during the Gettysburg Campaign, and they suffered dire casualties as a result. Their bravery in fighting on Herbst’s Woodlot and against the 26th North Carolina had a strong effect on the outcome of the Gettysburg Campaign. Image: Gochy Charles. Company F, 24th Michigan (Iron Brigade). Image Source: WaterfordHistory.org How can I obtain these Gettysburg publications?

The more you read about these and other stories of the battle, the more easily you can get drawn in to the story of all the human bravery, pathos and drama that was part of the Gettysburg Campaign and the American Civil War. Immerse yourself in the history of The Gettysburg Campaign: June–July 1863 and familiarize yourself with the park through the Gettysburg National Military Park Handbook . You’re likely to be endlessly fascinated. Shop Online: Buy a print edition of these titles on the GPO U.S. Government Online Bookstore Gettysburg National Military Park Handbook by the National Park Service can also be found with other books about our National Parks . Order by Phone: Call our Customer Contact Center Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5:30 pm Eastern (except US Federal holidays). From US and Canada, call toll-free 1.866.512.1800. DC or International customers call +1.202.512.1800.

Visit our Retail Store: Buy it at GPO’s retail bookstore at 710 North Capitol Street NW, Washington, DC 20401, open Monday–Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., except Federal holidays, (202) 512-0132. Find it in a Library: Search for them in a Federal Depository Library. Federal Depository Librarians: You can find the records for these titles in the CGP . About the author(s): Our co-bloggers include: guest blogger Jennifer K. Davis from GPO’s Library Services & Content Management Division that supports the Federal Depository Libraries Program (FDLP) and Government Book Talk Editor, Michele Bartram, GPO Promotions & Ecommerce Manager. SHARE THIS: 101 Interesting Facts about the Civil War| FactRetriever.com 101 Interesting Facts about the Civil War By Karin Lehnardt, Senior Writer Published January 6, 2017 The Civil War was the bloodiest war ever fought on American soil. During an average day during the war, approximately 600 people were killed.

By the end of the war, over 618,000 people had died. This is more Americans than WWI, WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War combined.[2] During the Civil War, 2% of the U.S. population died. This is equivalent to 6 million men today. While rifles were the deadliest weapons during the war, disease killed more men. Camps became breeding grounds for measles, chicken pox, and mumps. One million Union solders contracted malaria.[4] One of every 65 Federals and 1 of every 45 Confederates were killed in action.[4] A Civil War soldier’s chance of surviving the war was about 1 in 4.[5] More Americans died at the Bloody Angle at Spotsylvania, Virginia, in May 1864 than at Omaha Beach on D-Day in 1944.[4] The most common operation performed on soldiers during the Civil War was amputation. The best surgeon could have a limb severed and discarded within five minutes.

Civil War doctors were nicknamed “sawbones.” There were 60,000 partial or complete amputations during the war.[9] Virginia experienced the most fighting during the Civil War—more than 2,100 events, followed by Tennessee (1,400) and Missouri (1,100).[4] The Civil War is also known as "The Boy's War" The youngest soldier in the Civil War was a 9-year-old boy from Mississippi. The oldest was an 80-year-old from Iowa. More than 10,000 soldiers serving in the Union Army were under 18 years old.[7] Daniel Emmett, the composer of “Dixie” was not only from the North, but he was also a loyal Unionist. He was disgusted by the song’s popularity in the South. Lincoln claimed that it was one of “the best tunes I ever heard.”[2] The last Southern troops surrendered on May 26, 1865. Afterward, survivors began decorating the graves of those who had died.

They repeated the ritual each year on “The Decoration Day”—which is now known as Memorial Day.[10] An estimated 800 wounded men burned to death at the Battle of the Wilderness because they were unable to crawl away from advancing brush fires.[4] Immediately after the war, 2 out of 3 men sentenced to state prisons in the North were Civil War veterans.[4] The term “carpetbagger” was used pejoratively by Southerners to describe opportunistic Northerners who moved to the South during Reconstruction. These newcomers often carried bags made from used carpet, or carpetbags.[7] In the 20 years after the Civil War, the national divorce rate increased 150%.[4] Seven future U.S. presidents served in the Civil War: Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, William McKinley, James Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, Chester A. Arthur, and Andrew Johnson.[2] The Civil War prison camp Elmira had two observation towers constructed for onlookers. Citizens paid 15 cents to look at the inmates.

Concession stands by the towers sold peanuts, cakes, and lemonade while the men inside starved.[4] Approximately 470,000 soldiers were held prisoner during the Civil War, which was more than the population of Arkansas at the time. About 56,000 died in prison camps.[4] If the names of the Civil War dead were organized similar to the names on the Vietnam Memorial wall, the Civil War memorial would be over 10 times longer.[11] War at the best, is terrible, and this war of ours, in its magnitude and in its duration, is one of the most terrible. - Abraham Lincoln, June 16, 1864, Speech at Philadelphia Nearly 3,000 people died in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. About the same number of men died in the first 15 minutes at Grant’s assault at Cold Harbor on June 3, 1864.[4] From 1861 to 1865, the number of orphans in the U.S.

more than doubled.[4] The Twenty-Sixth North Carolina Infantry suffered the worst regimented losses in a single battle: 708 of 800 killed, wounded, or missing at Gettysburg.[4] The average Civil War soldier was 5’8” tall and weighed 143 pounds. He was 23 years old.[10] The oldest Civil War monument in existence is a monument to the Union’s Hazen Brigade inside Stones River National Cemetery. It was erected in 1863.[10] In the North, more than 1/3 of all men of military age served in the war. For the South, it was nearly 2/3.[2] In a single day, the 1 million Civil War horses would have peed enough urine to fill more than 12 standard swimming pools.[4] Horses and other draft animals had about a 7-month life expectancy during the Civil War. As many as 300,000 horses died.

More than 3,000 horses were killed at Gettysburg alone.[4] Fighting took place on each day of the war, which lasted approximately 1,396 days, from 1861 to 1865. Nearly 10,455 military “events” took place during the war.[11] During the Civil War, diarrhea (Greek, meaning “I flow away”) was the most common and deadly disease. More Civil War soldiers died from diarrhea than were killed in battle. About 1 in 40 cases was fatal. Death came from dehydration, exhaustion, or the rupture of the intestinal wall.[11] Both the war’s bloodiest day (Antietam) and its bloodiest battle (Gettysburg) occurred in Union states. More than 5,000 soldiers died at Antietam, making September 17, 1862, the single bloodiest day in U.S.

military history.[4] The Battle of Antietam was the Civil War's deadliest one-day fight Most Civil War soldiers marched 15 to 20 miles a day.[11] The Civil War was the first war to be immediately reported in the press. The first photographs were taken at the Battle of Antietam.[2] After the Southern states seceded, both the United States and the Confederacy instituted the first ever national income tax. Ever since the Civil War, Americans have lived with the IRS.[4] The Civil War was the first time the national draft was used in American history (April 16, 1862).[2] Ulysses S. Grant’s critics called him a “butcher” because of his high casualty rates in battle.[7] The Civil War was known by more than 25 names, including “The Brothers War,” “The War to Suppress Yankee Arrogance,” “The War for the Union,” and “The War of the Rebellion.”[7] President Lincoln’s personal copy of the Emancipation Proclamation would be worth millions if it were still in existence.

It was donated to the Chicago Historical Society in 1864, but destroyed in the Great Fire of 1871.[11] Of the 3 million soldiers in the Civil War, 1% were regular army, 9% were draftees or substitutes, and the rest were volunteers.[4] In the four years of the Civil War, the South lost a quarter of its military-age men, half of its wealth, and its position of political preeminence in the U.S. In contrast, the North emerged as an industrial powerhouse and the central government became the overriding power of the land.[11] The amphibious landing of 110,000 at Iwo Jima cost 5,931 American lives and wounded 17,372 more. Roughly the same numbers and losses were involved in the Civil War battle at Chickamauga. Iwo Jima spanned 36 days. Chickamauga lasted 36 hours (September 19-20, 1863).[4] Gettysburg was the largest battle ever fought in North America.

It’s victor, General Meade, was born in Spain.[4] Gen. Pickett's failed charge against the North on the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg. When asked why his charge failed, Pickett replied: "I've always thought the Yankees had something to do with it" The bullet (especially the Minie) accounted for more than 90% of battle fatalities. The soft, low-velocity bullets tumbled and spread apart inside the body, which caused excessive and irreparable tissue damage. Only 4% of Civil War battlefield casualties came from the muzzle of a canon.[4] On average, of every 100 fatalities on the battlefield, five men died from limb wounds, 12 from punctures to the lower abdomen, 15 from damage to the heart or liver, and more than 50 from lacerations to the head or neck.[4] Most Civil War dead were not returned home for interment. Many bodies were ground into the earth by horse hooves or wagon wheels and thousands drowned. Square hits from artillery shredded bodies. After several battles, soldiers recalled seeing bodies eaten by hogs. The U.S.

Army did not start issuing dog tags until 1906.[4] In Vietnam, 1 in 400 of the wounded died of their injuries. In the Korean War, 1 in 50 wounded American soldiers died. In the Civil War, 1 in 7 wounded Federals died and 1 in 5 wounded Confederates died—sometimes within minutes, sometimes after months of suffering.[4] South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union on December 20, 1860.[10] The four million slaves living in the South by 1860 had an estimated worth at the time of more than 2 billion dollars.[11] Susie King Taylor, a runaway slave from Georgia and Civil War nurse, was one of the first African American nurses in United States history. She also taught soldiers to read and write.[11] Dr. Mary Edwards was the first woman awarded the Medal of Honor Dr. Mary Edwards Walker was not only the first woman surgeon in U.S. Military history, but she was also the only woman in the Civil War to be awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest honor given to a citizen of the U.S.

She is the only female recipient of the award to date.[11] Amy Clarke wanted to fight near her husband during the Civil War and so disguised herself as “Richard Anderson” to join a Tennessee unit of the Confederacy. Although her husband died at Shiloh, she continued to fight until she was wounded and captured by Union soldiers. When they discovered she was a woman, she was sent back to the Confederate—in a dress.[11] The Civil War was the first time a submarine ever sank an enemy ship when the submarine the Hunley sank the USS Housatonic. However, the Hunley was damaged in the attack, wandered seaward, and sank drowning all 8 hands. Only 5 of Housatonic’s 155 died. The Hunley was finally recovered 136 years later.[11] During the battle of Chancellorsville, at least one Union soldier discovered he was the victim of corrupt government contractors when he found that his rifle cartridges were filled with dirt rather than gunpowder.[4] In 2008, the body of a Union soldier was discovered in Antietam.

His remains were laid to rest in the regimental home of New York State.[10] When the Southern states seceded in 1860 and 1861, they did not leave in order of their geographic location, economic standing political qualities, or level of industrialization. They left in almost the exact order of their percentage of slaves.[4] One of the most controversial campaigns of the Civil War was Union General William T. Sherman’s march through Georgia and the Carolinas. Sherman (1820-1891) actually lived in the South for a dozen years, owned slaves, and disapproved of abolitionists. He was also superintendent of a school that later would become Louisiana State University. Before he became a Union general, he was demoted for apparent insanity.[5] Court martial records during the Civil War list over 100,000 incidents of sexual misconduct. An officer wrote to his wife, “You would think there was not a married man in the regiment.”[4] Among Union white troops, surgeons treated over 73,000 soldiers for syphilis and over 109,00 for gonorrhea.

African American soldiers had incidences of less than half than that of the white troops.[4] Because of the epidemic of venereal diseases among soldiers, the Union army tried government-sanctioned prostitution in Nashville and Memphis from 1863 to1865. The incidence of venereal disease declined sharply.[4] Nearly 1/3 of Union Army soldiers were immigrants (7.5% were Irish; 10% were German). Other immigrant soldiers were French, Italian, Polish, English, and Scottish. Approximately 1 in 10 were African American.[4] African American soldiers were allowed to join the Union Army in 1863, but they were paid lower wages than white soldiers and were charged rent for their clothing. Some black Union soldiers refused their salary for 18 months as protest. In September 1864, they finally received equal pay.[6] Richard J. Gatling said he invented the Gatling gun to show how futile war is The Gatling gun was a Civil War invention. Richard Gatling hoped his rapid-fire gun (a precursor to the modern machine gun) would help the Union win.[7] Harriet Tubman led raids to free slaves during the Civil War.

She also taught freed slave women skills that could earn them wages with the Union Army.[6] During the war, the Union confiscated Robert E. Lee’s estate and turned it into a cemetery so that he would be reminded of the carnage he caused. It later became Arlington National Cemetery.[5] During the Civil War, generals usually led their solders into battle, a rare occurrence in modern wars. Because of this, generals were 50% more likely to die in combat than privates were.[4] Although both the North and South did not allow women in the army, it is estimated that 250-400 women fought disguised as men.[6] Ulysses Simpson Grant actually was named Hiram Ulysses Grant.

His name was incorrectly recorded on his West Point application.[7] “Quaker guns” (named for the pacifist religious group) were fake artillery that was used by both sides through the Civil War to cause confusion about troop location and strength.[7] Though many key battles took place in Virginia and the state was home to the Confederacy’s capital, it actually had relatively few slaveholders: 2,184 out of more than 1 million Virginians.[4] To prevent escape at Camp Douglas in Chicago, prisoners were not allowed to wear clothes. Even blankets were taken away. Many Confederates froze to death.[4] While General Robert E. Lee opposed slavery and secession, he lead the Confederate Army out of loyalty to Virginia, his home state.[4] Poet Walt Whitman was a nurse in the Civil War.[7] Edward Everett, the main speaker at the Gettysburg dedication, spoke for 2 hours. President Abraham Lincoln, who was invited almost as an afterthought, spoke for 2 minutes. His speech went down in history.[7] Lincoln was also the first major leader in the U.S. to feel that women should be allowed to vote Most Southerners were not slaveholders.

In fact, less than a quarter of “whites” had any direct connection to slavery. However, there were between 3 and 4 million African American slaves, which accounted for more than 1/3 of the total population in the South.[10] In the North, African Americans were subject to the Union draft. In border states, slaves could be drafted and their slave owners paid for each slave who joined the army.[10] At Fort Sumter, the war began with shots fired from Edmund Ruffin, a Virginia planter and slaveholder, and New York-born Abner Doubleday (who, debatably, invented the baseball). Both survived the war, but Ruffin committed suicide after Lee surrendered.

No one was killed at Fort Sumter.[2] The North expected to win because 1) they had more men to fight (22 million people in the North versus 7 million white people in the South), 2) there were more factories in the North to make guns and bullets, and 3) the North had more railroads for transporting guns and supplies.[2] The South expected to win because 1) Northerners did not know their way around the South, where most of the fighting would take place, 2) Southern farmers were already skilled marksmen and riding horses, and 3) they were fighting to save a way of life.[2] Confederate General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson got his nickname during the first Battle of Bull Run. During battle, his men noted he stood “like a stone wall.” He was later accidentally shot and killed by his own men.[2] Stonewall Jackson received chloroform for the removal of his left arm.

On his deathbed, he described being anesthetized as the “most delightful physical sensation I ever experienced.”[2] Andersonville Prison was commanded by Captain Henry Wirz, who was tried and executed after the war for war crimes The Confederacy’s Andersonville is the most infamous of Civil War prison camps. About 33,000 soldiers were imprisoned there at some point in the war. More than 13,000 men died at this camp.[4] At Gettysburg, the First Minnesota captured the battle flag of the Twenty-eight Virginia. In 2001, the state of Virginia requested that Minnesota return it. As of 2010, Minnesota still possessed the banner.[2] The Union uniform was blue and the Confederate uniform was gray. But because clothes were scarce during the war, it was common for soldiers to wear “enemy” colors and mistakenly be fired upon by their own men.[2] In March 1863, the government passed a law drafting men into the army. A man could avoid the draft by paying $300 to hire someone to take his place. Among those in the Union who hired substitutes were future president Grover Cleveland, J.P.

Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, and Lincoln’s personal secretary John Nicolay. Lincoln himself also hired a substitute—John Summerfield Staple—for $500.[5] The first U.S. Medal of Honor was awarded during the Civil War on March 25, 1863. It was awarded to six 6 survivors of the April 1962 Andrew’s Raid. In all, 2,625 soldiers and sailors received the medal during the war. There were 433 awarded during WWII.[5] After the Battle of Shiloh in 1862, soldiers had to lie in the mud for days. They noticed that their wounds glowed in the dark. In 2001, two Maryland teenagers discovered that the hypothermic men provided the ideal conditions of a bioluminescent bacterium called Photorhabdus luminescens.[1] Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri remained in the Union even though they allowed slavery.

Additionally, the western part of Virginia remained in the Union, while the eastern part seceded into the Confederacy.[2] While white women in the South feared rape, the scant documentation available indicates that African American women, usually slaves or freed slaves, suffered the most rapes, sometimes in front of white women as a type of proxy rape.[12] The first battle between ironclads occurred during the Civil War in March 1862, between the Confederate ship Merrimack and the Union Monitor. No winner was declared.[2] Union ironclads on the Charleston Harbor President Lincoln at one time had hoped to relocate the entire black population of the U.S. to Central America. He even talked with the British about providing land for them in British Honduras, or modern-day Belize. He noted that “I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races.”[3] In 1860, two states had more slaves than free people: Mississippi and South Carolina.[11] The Founding Fathers refused to include a reference to “Almighty God” into the U.S. Constitution.

The Confederate Constitution, however, wanted to appear more evangelical and included the phrase. In fact, the national motto of the Confederacy was Deo Vindice: “God will avenge.”[4] The Civil War lasted 48 months. The 13th Amendment consists of 48 words.[4] The cure-all medicine for the Civil War was calomel, a mercury mixture of chalk, honey and sometimes licorice. It was used to treat everything from syphilis to headaches. When one Union army doctor, William Hammond, noted that mercury was poisonous, he was dismissed as a quack and removed from his post.[9] Only two people were convicted of war crimes in the Civil War. The first was Confederate Capt. Henry Wirz. He was tried and executed after the war for murder and conspiracy associated with his command at Andersonville, an infamous prison camp. The second was Confederate guerilla Champ Ferguson.[4] In the North, inflation rose 100% over the four years of the Civil War. In the South, the rate neared 100% every year of the war.

Immediately after Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, it took 1,200 Confederate dollars to buy 1 U.S. dollar.[4] Before the Civil War, approximately 5,000 slaves attempted to escape per year. During the war, the number increased to 5,000 or more per month.[4] There were around 200,000 Civil War desertions from the Union side and more than 120,000 from the Confederate ranks. An estimated 85,000 Union men fled to Canada. Of the 76,000 deserters who were caught, almost all were returned to duty. Officially, 141 were executed.[4] Only about 1% of Civil War casualties were actually a result of a bayonet wound The Industrial Revolution facilitated the mass production of weaponry, but the medical revolution and its use of antiseptics was still years away. Additionally, while rifled weapons and mini bullets increased the firing range threefold, soldiers still used traditional military methods, which depended on massed infantry at close range. All of this led to high mortality rates and excessively bloody battles.

The Civil War became dubbed as the “first modern war.”[2] Of the nearly 200,000 African Americans who fought for the North, more than 100,000 were runaway slaves. The number of African Americans who enlisted in the Union Army was larger than the number of soldiers in the entire Confederate Army in the final months of the war. Twenty-five African American soldiers were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Approximately 35,000 of the nearly 200,000 died during the war.[4] During the Civil War, as many as 25,000 guerrilla fighters participated in “unconventional warfare.” Arson, scalping, and lynching were so prevalent along the Missouri-Kansas border, for example, that Union officials evacuated the residents of entire counties for the duration of the war.[2] There is no one single cause of the Civil War, but historians commonly isolate at least five: 1) Economic and social differences between the North and the South, 2) State vs.

federal rights, 3) Slavery, 4) Growing abolition movement, and 5) the election of Abraham Lincoln.[4] There are more black men in prison today than there were black male slaves in 1850.[8] U.S. Population, 1860[11] Twentieth Century Atlas - Casualty Statistics - United States 136 Executive FN1 : American -- "American" is not as clearly definable as you'd think. Obviously, anyone fighting under the authority of the US government counts, but should we include the Confederates? And if the Confederates count, shouldn't the Tories and Texans? Once this happens, we've shifted from a legal definition of American to an ethnic definition, and we have to be fair about including situations where substantial numbers of ethnic Americans fought and died outside the legal structure of the US government. I've italicized those. FN2 : Afghanistan only, according to Defense Link . FN3 : Legal Authority - The main reason I've bothered with this category is that people sometimes try to trim the list of American wars by arbitrarily deciding that some are more "official" than others, and therefore Russia, for example, wouldn't count.

My point here is that, yes, there are legal differences between wars, but that you shouldn't include some undeclared wars (e.g. Gulf War) while ignoring others (e.g. Lebanon). Although only a handful of American wars have been launched by a formal diplomatic declaration of war, all have had at least the tacit support of Congress. Some have seen specific resolutions authorizing the Executive Branch to use force as it sees fit. Sometimes Americans have fought under governments established by revolution, which is a legal can of worms. FN4 : Indian Wars - for now, I'm lumping all these together, but ideally, each should be counted separately. For details and sources, see below . FN5 : War Names - I've tried to avoid the cute, designer names that have been attached to some of these wars, like Desert Storm and the Polar Bear Expedition, in favor of more descriptive names. FN6 : War against Terrorism - Deaths in "Operation Enduring Freedom" ( Defense Link ) outside the Afghanistan, plus the 22 soldiers and 33 sailors killed at the Pentagon, Sept. 11, 2001 ( CNN ). It doesn't include the civilians killed on 9/11.

USA Today : Up to 10,000 Sept. 17, 1862, Battle of Antietam [Bloodiest calendar day on American soil, probably 4,300 killed that day.] Livermore, Numbers and Losses in the Civil War: 2,108 US + 2,700 CS [= 4,808] NPS KIA: 2100 USA + 1550 CSA = 3,650 killed in action on both sides. Perhaps 4,000 died of wounds later [1,910 USA + 1550 CSA], or were dead but counted as missing [225 USA + 306 CSA], giving perhaps 7,650 who died as a result of the battle, but not necessarily on that single day. USA: 2,010 KIA CSA: ca. 3,000 bodies buried by Union after battle + ca. 500 bodies buried by CSA before retreat. [TOTAL: 5,510] Houston Chronicle, 10 Sept.

2002 review of James McPherson's Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam. USA: 2,300 Later died of wounds: 2,000 TOTAL: 6,300-6,500 k. or mort.w. September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks: 2,992, incl. foreign nationals and hijackers, at all 3 sites. Wikipedia : 2738 US citizens + 235 non-Americans + 19 hijackers. April 18-21, 1906, San Francisco Earthquake and Fire: 2,500+ on the day of the earthquake. A report of U.S. Army relief operations (Greely, 1906) recorded 498 deaths in San Francisco 64 deaths in Santa Rosa 102 deaths in and near San Jose [Total: 664] A 1972 NOAA report suggested that 700-800 was a reasonable figure.

Gladys Hansen and Emmet Condon (1989), estimated that over 3000 deaths were caused directly or indirectly by the catastrophe. Berkeley Seismological Lab : >3,000 [ Question : How many of these 3000 died on the first day, in the SF earthquake, rather than the fire? The 1871 Chicago fire killed 250 , so even assuming twice that many died in the SF fire, that leaves 2,500 dead in the earthquake.] September 16, 1928, Lake Okeechobee Hurricane: 2,500 D-Day Museum , Gilbert.: 2,403 Americans killed May 3, 1863, Battle of Chancellorsville , busiest day of the battle: 2,358 Some guy on Internet (Allan Goodall) "May 3 had been terribly bloody, second only to Antietam. The two armies combined had taken 21,357 casualties" In the whole battle (May 1-3), 17,304 Union casualties and 13,460 Confed casualties, incl.

1,724 CS dead and 1,694 US dead. [Calculations] [Total: 30764 casualties, of which 69% on 5/3.] [Total: 3418 killed, of which ? 2358 on 5/3] Livermore, Numbers and Losses in the Civil War: 1,575 US + 1,665 CS [= 3,240 on May 1-4, which come to an average of 810 per day.] July 1- 3, 1863, Battle of Gettysburg , per day 2,353± Livermore, Numbers and Losses in the Civil War: 3,155 US + 3,903 CS [= 7,058. Dividing by 3 yields an average of 2,353/day.] G'burg Resource Ctr : 1,125 Rebs k. in Pickett's charge, July 3.

Military history online : for 3-day battle, 3155 US KIA + 2600-4500 CS KIA [=5755-7655 KIA Total; 1/3 of that is an average of 1918-2552 KIA on any given day] May 31, 1889, Johnstown Flood: 2,209 JAHA , NPS : 2,209 Sept 19-20, 1863, Battle of Chickamauga : per day 1,984± Livermore, Numbers and Losses in the Civil War: 1,657 US + 2,312 CS [= 3,969 or an average of 1,984 per day.] Nov. 30, 1864, Battle of Franklin : 1,939 [2nd bloodiest single-day battle of the Civil War.] Livermore, Numbers and Losses in the Civil War: 189 US + 1750 CS [= 1,939] Dec.

13, 1862, Battle of Fredericksburg : 1,879 Livermore, Numbers and Losses in the Civil War: 1,284 US + 595 CS [= 1,879] April 27, 1865, wreck of the Sultana: 1,547 Aug 27-28, 1893, Sea Islands Hurricane: 1,500± Intellicast : 1,000 at Charleston SC Natural Disasters by Lee Davis: 1,000+ Dec. 31, 1862-Jan.

1, 1863, Battle of Murfreesboro : per day 1,485± Livermore, Numbers and Losses in the Civil War: 1,677 US + 1,294 CS [= 2,971 or an average of 1,485 per day.] June 6, 1944, D-Day : 1,465 D-Day Museum : 1,465 Americans killed (also 3184 wounded, 1928 missing and 26 captured, for a total of 6,603 lost) CNN : 6,603 Americans killed. [They've confused "casualties" with "killed."] Oct.

8, 1862, Battle of Perryville : 1,355 Livermore, Numbers and Losses in the Civil War: 845 US + 510 CS [= 1,355] June 3, 1864, Battle of Cold Harbor : 1,200 Bonekemper, A Victor, Not a Butcher, estimates that Grant lost a total of 6,000-6,500 men on 3 June. [p.186] Most other sources (Catton, Freeman, et al.) estimate 7,000 US lost that day [p.310-311]. Fuller est. 1,100 US KIA that day. Confed. losses that day are estimated at 1,200-1,500 (Freeman), 1,300 (Fuller), <1,500 (Catton). [Calculation: Fox, Regimental Losses, says that 1,844 US troops were killed out of a total of 12,737 lost in the 13-day battle.

That's 14.5%. Taking 14.5% of 7,000 + 1,300 gives 1,015 US and 188 CS KIA 6/3.] June 15, 1904, wreck of the General Slocum: 1,021 November 18, 1978, Jonestown, Guyana, mass suicide/murder: 913 [primarily Americans] Some guys on Internet (Kurtz-Nichol/Miller ): 913 followers of the Peoples Temple committed mass suicide 16 Oct. 1980 Associated Press & 7 Nov. 1980 Facts on File World News Digest: 4,678 Hurricane Katrina (August 29, 2005 and in subsequent flooding): 2,500 to 4,400 22 Nov 2005 USA Today : 6,644 people still missing after Katrina.

"Those counting the victims are particularly concerned about an estimated 1,300 unaccounted-for people who lived in areas that were heavily damaged by Katrina, or who were disabled at the time the storm hit." Official death toll: 1,306 -- including 301 unidentified. January 19, 2006 CNN : More than 3,200 people are officially still unaccounted for. Feb 6, 2006 Newsweek : about 2,500 people remain missing and the trail is going cold. About 100 unidentified bodies left. Aug. 31, 2010, Houston Chronicle : 1,464 dead and 135 missing (Direct storm casualties reported by Louisiana in 2007) [Estimate = 1,300 official + 1,300 to 3,200 missing -100 unidentified probably counted among both the dead and the missing = 2,500 to 4,400 = ca.

3,500 if you split the difference.] San Francisco Earthquake (April 18-21, 1906): 3,000 Lake Okeechobee Hurricane (September 16, 1928): 2,500-3,000 Johnstown Flood (May 31, 1889): 2,209 1975 Heat Wave (July 31-Aug. 3, 1975): 1,500-2,000 July 9, 1986 AP: 1,500-2,000 Sultana (April 27, 1865): 1,547 Sea Islands Hurricane (Aug 27-28, 1893): 1,000-2,000 1952 Heat Wave: 1,401 16 Oct. 1980 Associated Press & 7 Nov.

1980 Facts on File World News Digest: 1,401 General Slocum (June 15, 1904): 1,021 Watch the story of the bloodiest battle ever fought on American soil | KENW Watch the story of the bloodiest battle ever fought on American soil Tweet Share Google+ Email Over three days in 1863, war-weary Union and Confederate soldiers met at a backwater Pennsylvania crossroads to decide the fate of the nation. Produced to commemorate its sesquicentennial, THE GETTYSBURG STORY tells the epic tale of the bloodiest battle ever fought on American soil and the greatest man-made disaster in American history. Narrated by actor Stephen Lang (Avatar, Tombstone, Gettysburg), the documentary recounts the pivotal events and intimate stories from the iconic Civil War battle immortalized in Lincoln's “Gettysburg Address.” Cutting-edge cinematography techniques reveal the grand scale of the 6,000-acre battlefield, including the legendary sites of Little Round Top, Devils Den, The Railroad Cut, Cemetery Ridge and the fields of Pickett's Charge.

Gettysburg Story airs on Tuesday, November 12th at 10:00 p.m. and on Sunday, November 24th at 7:00 p.m. on channel 3. Gettysburg Story airs on channel 3-1 on Wednesday, November 20th at 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Top 20 Battles in U.S. History - best, most ranked User Contributed Rankings - ShareRanks.com Top 20 Battles in U.S. History 35 items ranked The greatest and biggest battles that the U.S. has ever waged, according to me! Rated 25 points - posted 7 years ago by ArtofWar11 in category United States . Click on up and down arrows to affect item's ranking Add item 1. Battle of Gettysburg The greatest battle of the Civil War, considered the war's turning point. The Union victory over the Confederate forces also led to Abraham Lincoln giving his famous Gettysburg Address. This battle is most important for the United States because it was very bloody, and every single casualty was American.

375 points - added 7 years ago by ArtofWar11 - 7 comments

Question: What was the biggest and bloodiest battle fought on American soil?
Answer: Gettysburg